The hydrophobic and omnidirectional antireflection coating of SiO2 nanospheres with C18-TEOS

• We proposed a moisture-resistant and omidirectional AR coating with optimum spin-coating method.
• The contact angle of the moisture-resistant AR coating is improved approximately 38%.
• The moisture resistance remains unchanged which preserved similar transmittance for six weeks.
• AR coating exhibits approximately 3% and 7% improved transmittance at incident angles of 0° and 60°, respectively.
• A simple and economical fabrication method is used.

This paper demonstrates the antireflection coating of SiO2 nanospheres applied to cover glass by using the optimal spin-coating method. Because of the hydrolysis and condensation reactions between the SiO2 nanosphere antireflection (AR) coating and n-octadecyltriethoxysilane solution (C18-TEOS), the contact angle of the AR coating with hydrophobic treatment is improved approximately 38%, and the moisture-resistance remains unchanged, which preserved similar transmittance for six weeks. Furthermore, the AR coating with hydrophobic treatment exhibits approximately 3% and 7% improvement in the transmittance at normal and oblique incidence, respectively. The hydrophobic and omnidirectional AR coating with nanoscale SiO2 particles can be fabricated using the proposed simple and economical method.